New Year could bring mixed bag of poker regulation

Updated 9:25 pm, Monday, December 31, 2012

The poker world can change from year to year in ways that you never see coming. But it doesn't always come out of the blue.

The return of the Full Tilt Poker online brand outside of the United States was perhaps the biggest surprise of 2012. The company that continued to leave players hanging with deposited funds inaccessible for almost two years because of its reckless financial mismanagement was bought out by its former top competition when Pokerstars secured its assets.

A deal is in place for those players to get their money back, but the process remains confusing to U.S. players.

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Further disappointment and a lack of discussion in Washington regarding any future federal online poker legislation was the most predictable.

Let's take a look at the potential poker issues in 2013:

Continued federal inaction: Two weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) admitted to the Las Vegas Review-Journal via chief of staff David Krone that his hopes to get something moving in Congress in the final days of the 2012 session were dead and buried.

He also provided little hope for 2013.

“Our goal is to definitely try again next year, but Senator Reid's feeling is that after a while there comes a time when you've lost momentum, you've lost the consensus that you've built,” Krone said.

In the House, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has a bipartisan bill at the ready in HR 2366 (officially labeled the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act), but it hasn't produced any major movement since August 2011, according to Library of Congress records. It was referred to subcommittee vote but has yet to receive one.

Increased state action: Nevada remains the only state to fully process and legalize online poker as an intrastate entity, requiring players to physically be within the state borders to enjoy the games.

More than a dozen operators have been cleared for the initial gaming licenses, and the first sites are expected to be up and running by June 1.

New Jersey, Iowa and California are making swift progress to follow suit and 10 more states are exploring the process. New Jersey had legislation pass overwhelmingly via 48-24-4 vote in its state assembly, but the last time such a bill hit the desk of Gov. Chris Christie, it was vetoed. Christie said he preferred a public vote on the measure.

And in Texas: The fight continues to get legalized poker in public card rooms.

Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) has drawn up H.B. 292, the Poker Gaming Act of 2013. It's a meticulous and long-reaching bill chalked full of lawyer-speak and can be read online at legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HB00292I.htm.

Rodriguez is advocating oversight from the Texas Lottery Commission, and his bill makes sense on a variety of levels as a state revenue generator, but it's hard to get past the reality of state politics.

While there is a short history of poker-themed legislation in Austin, it has never enjoyed a full vote on the House floor. Adding to the road hazards, Gov. Rick Perry has repeatedly stated that he would veto any bill that hits his desk relating to poker and casino gambling.